5D building information modelling – a practicability review

Quality, time and cost are the three most important elements in any construction project. Building information that comes timely and accurately in multiple dimensions will facilitate a refined decision making process which can improve the construction quality, time and cost. 5 dimensional Building Information Modelling or 5D BIM is an emerging trend in the construction industry that integrates all the major information starting from the initial design to the final construction stage. After that, the integrated information is arranged and communicated through Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). This research is to gauge the practicability of 5D BIM with an action research type pilot study by the means of hands-on modelling of a conceptual bungalow design based on one of the most popular BIM tools. A bungalow is selected as a study subject to simulate the major stages of 5D BIM digital workflow. The whole process starts with developing drawings (2D) into digital model (3D), and is followed by the incorporation of time (4D) and cost (5D). Observations are focused on the major factors that will affect the practicability of 5D BIM, including the modelling effort, inter-operability, information output and limitations. This research concludes that 5D BIM certainly has high level practicability which further differentiates BIM from Computer Aided Design (CAD). The integration of information not only enhanced the efficiency and accuracy of process in all stages, but also enabled decision makers to have a sophisticated interpretation of information which is almost impossible with the conventional 2D CAD workflow. Although it is possible to incorporate more than 5 dimensions of information, it is foreseeable that excessive information may escalate the complexity unfavourably for BIM implementation. 5D BIM has achieved a significant level of practicability; further research should be conducted to streamline implementation. Once 5D BIM is matured and widely accepted, it is foreseeable that additional BIM dimensions of information will be incorporated into sophisticated digital building model to achieve specific project outcomes

Sustainability knowledge using “AKASA” model among architecture students from Klang Valley private universities, Malaysia

The study intend to investigate sustainability knowledge using “AKASA” model. This model comprises all the literacy level which is the awareness, knowledge, attitude, skills and action. 234 students from 5 selected private universities were surveyed using questionnaires. Students were specifically selected from year 2 and year 3 from private universities in Klang valley, Malaysia. The study intends to investigate the environmental literacy level specifically the knowledge variable. The parametric study was conducted with descriptive analysis and the results shows that the environmental knowledge is at high level compared to other environmental literacy variables among year 2, year 3 and combine year 2 and year

Augmented reality for nDimensional building information modelling contextualization, customization and curation

This paper presents an experimental method and apparatus of augmented reality (AR) for nDimensional (nD) building information modeling (BIM). BIM allows nD information to be visualized simultaneously by architects, engineers and constructors to gain a synchronized understanding viewing from different perspectives. However, BIM is conventionally being operated on a desktop-based computer which makes collaboration less flexible, and it also creates an isolation gap between the model and reality. This isolation gap does not severely affect experienced and skilled professionals, as they can bridge the isolation gap with their intuition developed over the years. Nevertheless, users who are lack of such experience will feel the isolation gap between the digital realm and practicable reality, which could be the hurdle in project participation and decision making. AR allows virtual content to be mixed with real environment for user experience. In the context of our study, AR is functional to present the nD information of BIM, at the same time retaining users’ connection with the reality. It is not just being utilized solely for presentation, but also to maximize the potential for communication, interaction and experience. This pilot study investigates effective technological approach of using AR as an effective collaboration technology combining with BIM through proposed key aspects of contextualization, customization and curation. Contextualization is significant to enable users to understand the AR content by making the presented information meaningful to the target audience, implemented thru the means of 2D annotations, animations and options comparison. This study compares both AR BIM with and without contextualization. Customization can generate unique virtual environment and content for different level of users tailored to their needs and preference to create intuitive interaction with AR BIM. Curation is crucial to provide users with a reliable experience, and to formulate a continually improving AR BIM thru log data and users’ feedback. All in all, this paper explores the major aspects of contextualization, customization and curation, to distinguish effective approach in the currently “free for all” AR BIM development. Finally, an implication is provided for future study in terms of balance in information sufficiency and complexity for AR BIM

Methyl 2-{[3-(4,6-dimethoxy­pyrimidin-2-yl)ureido]sulfonyl­meth­yl}benzoate

In the title compound, C16H18N4O7S, a synthetic sulfonyl­urea herbicide, there are intra­molecular N—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Inter­molecular N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds form centrosymmetric dimers. The dihedral angle between the two rings is 50.00 (15)°

Acoustophoresis in Variously Shaped Liquid Droplets

The ability to precisely trap, transport and manipulate micrometer-sized objects, including biological cells, DNA-coated microspheres and microorganisms, is very important in life science studies and biomedical applications. In this study, acoustic radiation force in an ultrasonic standing wave field is used for micro-objects manipulation, a technique termed as acoustophoresis. Free surfaces of liquid droplets are used as sound reflectors to confine sound waves inside the droplets. Two techniques were developed for precise control of droplet shapes: edge pinning and hydrophilic/hydrophobic interface pinning. For all tested droplet shapes, including circular, annular and rectangular, our experiments show that polymer micro particles can be manipulated by ultrasound and form into a variety of patterns, for example, concentric rings and radial lines in an annular droplet. The complexity of the pattern increases with increasing frequency, and the observations are in line with simulation results. The acoustic manipulation technique developed here has the potential to be integrated into a more complex on-chip microfluidic circuit. Especially because our method is well compatible with electrowetting technology, which is a powerful tool for manipulating droplets with free surfaces, the combination of the two methods can provide more versatile manipulation abilities and may bring a wealth of novel applications. In the end, we demonstrate for the first time that acoustophoresis can be used for manipulating Caenorhabditis elegans

Laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics of interrupted microchannel heat sink with ribs in the transverse microchambers

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics of interrupted microchannel heat sink with ribs in the transverse microchambers journaltitle: International Journal of Thermal Sciences articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2016.06.029 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.The work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK through research grant (EP/L001233/1) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51576005)

Clinicopathological Significance of Maspin Expression in Breast Cancer

Maspin is a unique serine proteinase inhibitor that has tumor suppressor activity. It has been reported that maspin is expressed in normal human mammary epithelial cells and it is down-regulated during the progression of cancer. However, to date, there is very limited data on the clinical significance of maspin expression in human breast cancer. In this study, maspin expression was assessed immunohistochemically from 80 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) specimens of the breast. Also, maspin expression was compared with the clinicopathological factors (age, grade, tumor size and lymph node status), the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and p53, DNA ploidy and the overall survival in an attempt to assess its prognostic value. The maspin expression was positive in 25 IDC cases (31.3%). The maspin expression in IDC was significantly correlated with a higher histologic grade, a larger tumor size, a positive p53 status and shorter survival. There was an inverse association with maspin expression and the PR status. These findings suggest that maspin expression is not down-regulated with the progression of cancer and maspin expression may be associated with a poor prognosis. The immunohistochemical detection of maspin in breast cancers may be helpful for predicting an aggressive phenotype

Maintaining Vaccine Delivery Following the Introduction of the Rotavirus and Pneumococcal Vaccines in Thailand

Although the substantial burdens of rotavirus and pneumococcal disease have motivated many countries to consider introducing the rotavirus vaccine (RV) and heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) to their National Immunization Programs (EPIs), these new vaccines could affect the countries' vaccine supply chains (i.e., the series of steps required to get a vaccine from their manufacturers to patients). We developed detailed computational models of the Trang Province, Thailand, vaccine supply chain to simulate introducing various RV and PCV-7 vaccine presentations and their combinations. Our results showed that the volumes of these new vaccines in addition to current routine vaccines could meet and even exceed (1) the refrigerator space at the provincial district and sub-district levels and (2) the transport cold space at district and sub-district levels preventing other vaccines from being available to patients who arrive to be immunized. Besides the smallest RV presentation (17.1 cm3/dose), all other vaccine introduction scenarios required added storage capacity at the provincial level (range: 20 L–1151 L per month) for the three largest formulations, and district level (range: 1 L–124 L per month) across all introduction scenarios. Similarly, with the exception of the two smallest RV presentation (17.1 cm3/dose), added transport capacity was required at both district and sub-district levels. Added transport capacity required across introduction scenarios from the provincial to district levels ranged from 1 L–187 L, and district to sub-district levels ranged from 1 L–13 L per shipment. Finally, only the smallest RV vaccine presentation (17.1 cm3/dose) had no appreciable effect on vaccine availability at sub-districts. All other RV and PCV-7 vaccines were too large for the current supply chain to handle without modifications such as increasing storage or transport capacity. Introducing these new vaccines to Thailand could have dynamic effects on the availability of all vaccines that may not be initially apparent to decision-makers

Discovery of cellular regulation by protein degradation

What follows is a story of some of the lab’s adventures mentioned above, including the inventions of new biochemical and genetic methods. This account stems, in part, from previous descriptions of the early history of the Ub field (31,32). Another antecedent is an interview I gave to Dr. Istvan Hargittai, a distinguished Hungarian chemist. It describes my life and science, including the early years in Moscow, the 1977 escape from the former Soviet Union, the essentially accidental hiring of me by MIT, and the work that ensued (33). The narrative below borrows from these sources, and mentions our more recent contributions as well